A multiple criteria decision-making approach for water allocation of environmental flows considering the value trade-offs - A case study of Fen River in China.

In the water-scarce basin, the allocation of environmental flows needs to achieve the equilibrium between ecological protection and economic development. One of the challenges is the lack of quantitative analysis of the value of water in the economy and ecosystem, which could not effectively support the decision-making. This paper proposed a new multi-criteria decision-making approach that considers the value trade-offs between the environmental flows and the economic water use of rivers. The value of environmental flows was assessed using the modified equivalent factor method combined with the hydraulic method, which considers the influences of the hydraulic characteristics of rivers on value assessment. The value of the economic water use was estimated using the modified Cobb-Douglas production function. The ideal point method was applied to obtain the optimal solution of the multi-criteria decision with the objective of maximum values of the economic water use and maximum values of environmental flows (or the value of multiple recommended environmental flows). This new method was applied to determine the optimal environmental flows in the Fen River, the second-largest tributary of the Yellow River of China. The results indicated that the reasonable environmental flows were 51.1 % or 40.4 % (considering the water shortage for development) of the natural runoff of the Fen River. This work could provide a valuable reference for determining the water allocation of environmental flows in the water shortage area of China.

High-Energy-Density Asymmetric Supercapacitor Based on Free-Standing Ti3C2TX@NiO-Reduced Graphene Oxide Heterostructured Anode and Defective Reduced Graphene Oxide Hydrogel Cathode.

The rational design of an asymmetric supercapacitor (ASC) with an expanded operating voltage window has been recognized as a promising strategy to maximize the energy density of the device. Nevertheless, it remains challenging to have electrode materials that feature good electrical conductivity and high specific capacitance. Herein, a 3D layered Ti3C2TX@NiO-reduced graphene oxide (RGO) heterostructured hydrogel was successfully synthesized by uniform deposition of NiO nanoflowers onto Ti3C2TX nanosheets, and the heterostructure was assembled into a 3D porous hydrogel through a hydrothermal GO-gelation process at low temperatures. The resultant Ti3C2TX@NiO-RGO heterostructured hydrogel exhibited an ultrahigh specific capacitance of 979 F g-1 at 0.5 A g-1, in comparison to that of Ti3C2TX@NiO (623 F g-1) and Ti3C2TX (112 F g-1). Separately, a defective RGO (DRGO) hydrogel was found to exhibit a drastic increase in specific capacitance, compared to untreated RGO (261 vs 178 F g-1 at 0.5 A g-1), owing to abundant mesopores. These two materials were then used as free-standing anode and cathode to construct an ASC, which displayed a large operating voltage (1.8 V), a high energy density (79.02 Wh kg-1 at 450 W kg-1 and 45.68 Wh kg-1 at 9000 W kg-1), and remarkable cycling stability (retention of 95.6% of the capacitance after 10,000 cycles at 10 A g-1). This work highlights the unique potential of Ti3C2TX-based heterostructured hydrogels as viable electrode materials for ASCs.

Study of As2O3 regulating proliferation and apoptosis of Tca8113 cells by inhibiting the expression of Id-1.

OBJECTIVE: Our study aims to investigate the effect of arsenic trioxide (As2O3) on proliferation and apoptosis of Tca8113 tongue squamous carcinoma cells. METHODS: Cell proliferation and the expression of Id-1 mRNA in Tca8113 cells after treatment with different concentrations of As2O3 were detected by MTT and qRT-PCR, respectively. The expression of Id-1, cell proliferation and apoptosis in Id-1 silencing Tca8113 cells were detected by qRT-PCR, Western blot, MTT and flow cytometry, respectively. The pcDNA 3.1-Id-1 overexpression vector was transfected into Tca8113 cells combination with 3 µmol/L As2O3. The detection of cell proliferation, apoptosis and Caspase-3, Bax and Bcl-2 protein expression in transfected Tca8113 cells were performed by MTT, flow cytometry and Western blot assay, respectively. RESULTS: As2O3 of different concentration could inhibit the proliferation of Tca8113 cells and IC50 value was 3.004 ± 0.2379 µmol/L. The expression of Id-1 mRNA was down-regulated in Tca8113 cells treated with 3 µmol/L As2O3 for 48 h. The results of qRT-PCR, Western blot, MTT and flow cytometry indicated that the expression level of Id-1 and cell proliferation ability were decreased while the apoptosis rate was increased in Tca8113 cells after transfection of Id-1 siRNA. Overexpression of Id-1 could attenuate the inhibition or promotion of As2O3 on proliferation, apoptosis and Caspase-3, Bax and Bcl-2 protein expression in Tca8113 cells. CONCLUSION: As2O3 could regulate the proliferation and apoptosis of Tca8113 cells by inhibiting the expression of Id-1.

Biodiversity and Activity of Gut Fungal Communities across the Life History of Trypophloeus klimeschi (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae).

We comprehensively investigated the biodiversity of fungal communities in different developmental stages of Trypophloeus klimeschi and the difference between sexes and two generations by high throughput sequencing. The predominant species found in the intestinal fungal communities mainly belong to the phyla Ascomycota and Basidiomycota. Fungal community structure varies with life stage. The genera Nakazawaea, Trichothecium, Aspergillus, Didymella, Villophora, and Auricularia are most prevalent in the larvae samples. Adults harbored high proportions of Graphium. The fungal community structures found in different sexes are similar. Fusarium is the most abundant genus and conserved in all development stages. Gut fungal communities showed notable variation in relative abundance during the overwintering stage. Fusarium and Nectriaceae were significantly increased in overwintering mature larvae. The data indicates that Fusarium might play important roles in the survival of T. klimeschi especially in the overwintering stage. The authors speculated that Graphium plays an important role in the invasion and colonization of T. klimeschi. The study will contribute to the understanding of the biological role of the intestinal fungi in T. klimeschi, which might provide an opportunity and theoretical basis to promote integrated pest management (IPM) of T. klimeschi.

Identification, Characterization and Expression of Methuselah-Like Genes in Dastarcus helophoroides (Coleoptera: Bothrideridae).

Dastarcus helophoroides, which has a relatively longer lifespan compared to other insects, is one of the most effective natural enemies of many large-body long-horned beetles. Methuselah (Mth) is associated with the lifespan, stress resistance, and reproduction in Drosophila melanogaster, but Mth is not present in non-drosophiline insects. A number of methuselah-like genes (mth-likes, mthls) have been identified in non-drosophiline insects, but it is still unknown whether they are present in Dastarcus helophoroides. We identified three novel mth-like genes in D. helophoroides: mth-like1, mth-like2, and mth-like5, and carried out bioinformatic analysis based on the full-length nucleic acid sequences and deduced amino acid sequences. Real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) showed variations in expression patterns of mth-like genes in different tissues (highly expressed in reproductive systems) and at different developmental stages, indicating that mth-likes were likely be involved in reproduction and development. The altered mRNA expression in aging adults and under oxidation, high temperature, and starvation stress, indicated that mth-like genes were likely to be involved in aging and the resistance of oxidation, high temperature, and starvation. These results characterize, for the first time, the basic properties of three mth-like genes from D. helophoroides that probably play important roles in development, aging, reproduction, and stress resistance.

The mitochondrial genome of Dastarcus helophoroides (Coleoptera: Bothrideridae) and related phylogenetic analyses.

The complete mitochondrial genome of Dastarcus helophoroides (Coleoptera: Bothrideridae) which consists of 13 PCGs, 22 tRNA genes, two rRNA genes and a non-coding region (D-loop), is sequenced for its nucleotide sequence of 15,878 bp (GenBank: KF811054.1). The genome has a typical gene order which is identical to other Coleoptera species. Except for COI gene generally starts with non-canonical initial codon, all protein-coding genes start with ATN codon and terminate with the stop codon TA(A) or TAG. The secondary structure of rrnL and rrnS consists of 48 helices (contains four newly proposed helices) and 35 helices (contains two newly proposed helices) respectively. All 22 tRNAs in D. helophoroides are predicted to fold into typical cloverleaf secondary structure, except trnS1 (AGN), in which the dihydrouracil arm (DHU arm) could not form stable stem-loop structure. Thirteen protein-coding genes (nucleotide dataset and nucleic acid dataset) of the available species (29 taxa) have been used to infer the phylogenetic relationships among these orders. Tenebrionoidea and Cucujoidea form a sister group, and D. helophoroides is classified into Cucujoidea (Bothrideridae). The study first research on the phylogenetic analyses involving to the D. helophoroides mitogenome, and the results strongly bolster the current morphology-based hypothesis.

[The effect of treating obstructive disease of lacrimal passage by lacrimal plastic operation with Nd:YAG laser].

OBJECTIVE: To study the therapeutic effects of Nd:YAG laser on obstructive diseases of the lacrimal passage. METHODS: 693 eyes in 603 cases with obstructive diseases of lacrimal passage, including obstruction of lacrimal puncta (23 eyes), lacrimal duct (192 eyes), nasolacrimal duct (227 eyes), chronic dacryocystitis (231 eyes), and traumatic laceration of lacrimal canaliculus (20 eyes), were treated by lacrimal plastic operation with Nd:YAG laser and the therapeutic effects were compared among the groups. RESULTS: The cure rates and effective rates of the five diseases were 86.9% and 95.7%, 89.1% and 93.8%, 93.0% and 96.0%, 78.4% and 82.7%, 40.0% and 65.0%, respectively. By Ridit analysis, R +/- S(R) values for each group were 0.921 +/- 0.023, 0.914 +/- 0.009, 0.927 +/- 0.007, 0.856 +/- 0.013, 0.749 +/- 0.055. CONCLUSIONS: The therapeutic effect on chronic dacryocystitis is less than those of obstruction of nasolacrimal duct and lacrimal duct (P < 0.05). The therapeutic effect on traumatic laceration of lacrimal canaliculus is less than that of the other four groups (P < 0.05). Therefore, it should be restricted on indication for the cases of chronic dacryocystitis and traumatic laceration of lacrimal canaliculus.